Light How We Got to Now with Steven Johnson


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Imagine some alien civilisation observing Earth

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for the last 100,000 years.

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The emergence of artificial light

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would be the single most dramatic change in our planet's appearance.

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But who are the people that took us out of the dark

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and into the light?

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OK, there we have a spout!

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An 18th-century skipper discovers a source of light in a whale.

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-They put a kid inside the whale's head?

-Right.

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There's a social do-gooder who illuminates the plight of the poor.

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He actually set fire to the tenements

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he was trying to photograph.

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And a French sci-fi fan playing with gases hits the jackpot.

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He decides to pass a current of electricity through them.

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ELECTRICTY CRACKLES

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These are classic examples of the kind of people

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who actually made the modern world -

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people you've probably never heard of.

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These are hobbyists, garage inventors, obsessive tinkerers...

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..ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

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The thing I love about these pioneers of light

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is that they didn't just make our world a brighter place,

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but they also set in motion an amazing chain reaction of ideas.

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Creating innovations that go on to affect every aspect of our lives...

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CAR HORNS TOOT

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..from manufacturing and architecture...

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..to homewares and entertainment.

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I want to show how these seemingly unconnected worlds are linked

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by the unsung heroes of light.

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All my career I've been fascinated by ideas and innovation,

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from writing books about the great British innovators

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of the Enlightenment or the Industrial Revolution

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to my work with Silicon Valley start-ups, and what I've learned

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about innovation is that the experiences of the past

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are still the best road map for our future,

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and that's why I want to tell you the story of How We Got To Now.

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My exploration into the chance encounters

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and unexpected discoveries

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that would bring light to the world begins...

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in the bath.

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We live in such a bright and artificially lit world,

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for many of us, there's a desire to return

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back to a low-light environment.

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And that's why when we want to relax,

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we surround ourselves now with an ancient technology,

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the humble candle.

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Candles provide the simplest form of artificial light

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and we've been making them for thousands of years.

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Despite their ancient origins,

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today they lie at the heart of a multi-billion-dollar industry.

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But that wasn't always the case.

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Today's sweet-smelling aromatherapy candles are symbols of luxury,

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but just a few centuries ago,

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candles would have had the opposite effect.

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Ordinary people made their own candles in an arduous process

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that involved rendering rancid animal fat,

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and when they finally lit them up indoors, they filled the rooms

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with smoke and noxious fumes.

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But all this was going to change.

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To create a light that was both clean and bright

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would take a chance encounter in the most unlikely of places.

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Back in 1659, here on the island of Nantucket,

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off the coast of Massachusetts,

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a group of English settlers set up a small farming community.

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But it was out at sea they would make their name

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in the story of light.

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-Morning.

-Good morning, how are you?

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-Very good.

-Welcome aboard.

-Thank you very much.

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The farmers would soon discover a new source of artificial light.

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It may sound completely bonkers, but it lay within the body of a whale.

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What's the likelihood that we're going to see something?

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You never know, it's a big ocean out there and, er,

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depending on how well, you know, it's always good to have a lot of eyes

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concentrating on the horizon, looking for spouts.

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Whales were very common in this area, coming here

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to feed in the nutrient-rich waters.

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Today they're a much rarer sight,

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so whale watchers are a superstitious bunch.

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There's a ritual here that the whale spotters like to use

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to encourage the whale to come out.

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They throw a blue M&M into the sea

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to elicit the appearance of the mighty beast.

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So I'm going to do this, this is actually a historic tradition.

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I believe there is a scene in Moby Dick where they do this.

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All right, here we go.

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All right. Show yourselves!

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OK, there, we have a spout.

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Yeah, I see it! Look at that, there it is.

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Big puffy plume

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off the surface of the water.

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-I see the spout again.

-Yeah, very good.

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-Now you got the hang of it.

-I could have been a whaler!

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They have massive lungs.

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-Yeah, look at that.

-Vapour erupts from their lungs.

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Can you tell what kind of whale it is?

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-Yeah, in this case we can tell it's a humpback whale.

-Really?

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This individual is more than likely feeding.

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Here it is diving. Watch the tail flukes go up,

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-and down underwater.

-That is spectacular.

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Before long, the settlers start hunting whales like this humpback,

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creating one of America's first global industries.

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The prize was the whale's blubber,

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which could be used in everything from soap and cosmetics

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to lubricants and medicines.

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But it took a crazy encounter by a legendary Nantucketer

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to bring a brand-new type of light to the world.

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On one fateful day in 1712,

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the story goes that a powerful nor'easter blew a Captain Hussey

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well out into the deep waters of the Atlantic, out in this direction,

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where he encountered a species of whale

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that had never been seen before, a giant leviathan of the deep -

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the sperm whale.

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Sperm whales are the largest of the toothed whales,

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growing to over 20 metres long.

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They can be fierce and dangerous animals.

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So what makes a sperm whale different

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from other species of whales?

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Well, first, they have teeth,

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so they're off shore, they're diving deep

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and they're huge animals, so to use those teeth,

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they're using them on very large animals like giant squid.

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Legend has it that Hussey would soon discover

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these whales contained a unique type of oil, not found in other species.

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And it was this oil that would go on to play a key role

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in the story of light.

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But first, he had to risk life and limb to catch one.

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When a whale was spotted, they would lower the whale boats,

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they would get in and they would start rowing, six men in this boat.

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When they get very close to the whale,

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then the harpooner takes up his harpoon, which looks like this.

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You want to get very close to the whale, you can't throw it too far.

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OK, so you're just, like, ten feet from this giant beast?

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-Or maybe even closer.

-Wow.

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And then you just take up that harpoon and you try to...

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-spear it.

-So you're kind of hooking it?

-Yes.

-Right, right.

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So, now the whale takes off swimming,

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because he's been struck by this harpoon, and the line,

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which is in this tub, is now paying out very fast

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and you are racing across the ocean on the Nantucket sleigh ride.

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And then eventually the whale gets tired,

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cos he's pulling this heavy boat with six men in it behind him,

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and when he starts to tire,

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they'll pull in on the line again, get close to the whale again,

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and now the officer might be in the bow, and he has a lance.

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And you're just stabbing?

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You're stabbing, so you stab probably several times

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and turn it around, do as much damage as you can.

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That would've been some ride.

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At the peak of the whaling industry,

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over 5,000 sperm whales were slaughtered each year.

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Once they'd caught and killed one,

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the carcass was processed out at sea.

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It was here the whalers uncovered something truly bizarre

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that changed the course of history.

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When they hacked their way into this creature's massive head,

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they found something they had never seen before -

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a vast reservoir of an oily substance,

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over hundreds of gallons of it.

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They called it spermaceti because of its resemblance to seminal fluid.

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Before long, spermaceti oil

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would become one of the most valuable substances on the planet.

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Extracting the spermaceti oil is a revolting and laborious business.

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They made a hole in the top of the head

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and then they lower the youngest, smallest person on board,

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who's probably a 14-year-old cabin boy, into the head of the whale.

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They put a kid inside the whale's head.

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Right. He comes out with a bucket more of oil.

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-This whale's been dead for days, probably, right?

-Probably, yeah.

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It must have smelled appalling.

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It did.

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It didn't take long for some bright spark to see

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if the spermaceti oil would burn.

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And this triggers a revolution in artificial light.

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Spermaceti oil burns with an unusually white bright light

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without odour or smoke.

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It's actually twice as bright as a traditional candle.

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It's a simple design, really.

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Just a wick suspended in a reservoir of oil.

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But spermaceti lamps and candles

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quickly became the most prized form of artificial light

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in Europe and in America.

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The demand for spermaceti oil goes through the roof,

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pouring millions of dollars into the American economy.

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Eager to protect their profits,

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the Nantucket tradesmen come up with a brand-new business idea

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and it's a practice still used throughout the world today.

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By the late 1700s, spermaceti processing factories

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have sprouted up all over Nantucket and even into the mainland.

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And the owners get together

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and form the United Company Of Spermaceti Chandlers.

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And the organisation gives them the power

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to keep newcomers from entering the market

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and it also enables them to keep Nantucket whalers

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from artificially raising the price of oil.

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It's one of the first examples of monopolies

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and price-fixing on record.

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Spermaceti oil not only transforms the way we light our world,

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it helps create innovations in the most surprising of places.

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It's by the light of spermaceti lamps

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that great authors like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson

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and Jane Austen write their greatest works.

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During the 1800s, it's spermaceti oil

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that lubes the steam engines and locomotives

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of the Industrial Revolution.

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And it was still used in the gear boxes

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of American automatic cars up until 1972.

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And because it stays liquid even at sub-zero temperatures,

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an urban myth took root that it was used in the Apollo 11 mission

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to land on the moon.

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Once we had bright lights, like spermaceti lamps,

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there's an immediate impact on our lives.

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It meant we didn't go to bed at sundown.

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We could stay up longer, do our chores later into the evening

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and even read a book at bedtime.

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But, it's not all good news.

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All this extra light messes with our sleep.

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-Having trouble sleeping, Steven?

-You know, it's funny, I am.

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It's weird. Can you explain why this is?

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-It's actually quite natural.

-Really?

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Yeah. Until the advent of artificial lighting,

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people all over the world, rich and poor, north and south,

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they tended to sleep in two phases each night.

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They referred to their first sleep and their second sleep.

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And so they'd sleep for how long?

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People would sleep for a number of hours

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and then wake up some time around midnight,

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usually for an hour or two.

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And what would they do during that time?

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Well, according to records, some people broke the law.

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It was an opportunity to get up and pilfer from the neighbours.

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I like a good pilfering in the middle of the night.

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Yeah. People relieved themselves.

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They looked after children or livestock.

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Without being too explicit about this,

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the advice was, do not conceive a child before your first sleep,

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when you're both exhausted from the day's labour.

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Wait until between the first and second sleep,

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when you're already rested.

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That's the ideal time to conceive a healthy child.

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With artificial lighting, the fact we could stay up later

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meant our natural two-sleep pattern was squeezed into one single sleep.

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TOILET FLUSHES

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But now, many of us suffer from insomnia.

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It's not unnatural to wake up in the middle of the night.

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So the insomnia, in a way,

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is our body kind of reverting back to that older rhythm?

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Yeah. The exposure to artificial light has physiological effects.

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We are going to fall back and wake up every now and then in the middle of the night

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and there's just nothing wrong with it.

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One of the things that concerns me, as an historian of sleep,

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is the attempt by pharmaceutical companies to convince people that,

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any time you're awake in the middle of the night,

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there's something wrong with you

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and you need a medication to deal with that.

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That is really a falsification of the human experience of sleep.

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All right, I feel a lot better about my insomnia.

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I'm going to try and get a little more shuteye.

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Perfectly natural.

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All right. Will you turn off the light?

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By the 1800s, our fascination with artificial light

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had created a melting pot of inventions and ideas.

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But before you shout out "light bulb",

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there's one other dazzling innovation

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I want to explore from this time period.

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And it would, once again, change the course of history.

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The very poor were increasingly living

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in the dark slums of America's growing cities.

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One man made it his mission to shine light on their wretched lives.

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It would take a flash of inspiration

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for the next step in the journey of light...

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That man is journalist Jacob Riis.

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In the late 1800s, here in New York City,

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Riis would write a new chapter in the story of light.

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He creates a source of light so bright,

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it allows him to capture an image and change people's minds.

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Riis is investigating a slum district

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called Five Points in Manhattan's Lower East Side.

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It's home to poor immigrants, who'd come chasing the American Dream.

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With half a million people living in just 15,000 tenement buildings,

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neighbourhoods like Five Points

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are among the most densely populated places on Earth.

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Riis is himself an immigrant

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and so the squalor he finds here appals him.

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He starts taking late-night walks

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through the back alleys and streets of Five Points,

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peering into the lives of the people there.

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These cramped, dark, unsanitary hovels

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are cesspits for disease and squalor,

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far removed from the day-to-day lives of most Americans.

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Here's Riis in his own words -

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"The sights I saw there gripped my heart

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"until I felt that I must tell of them,

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"or burst, or turn anarchist or something."

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Riis bangs out reports for newspapers and magazines,

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but his words fail to arouse public interest.

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He wants to share with Middle America

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the lives of real people from the slums.

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Maybe a photograph would help?

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Photography, at this point, is an experimental technology.

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Each photograph required a single plate

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and that could be expensive and they weren't very sensitive,

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so exposure times were extremely long, even in good light.

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So this is Riis's big problem.

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He wants to photograph inside the tenement apartments,

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but they're simply too dark.

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What he needs is a bright, portable light source.

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Throughout the 1800s,

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photographers try all sorts of ways to light their photos.

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A breakthrough comes with a metal called magnesium.

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All you really have to do is set it on fire.

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As you can see, it generates a bright light,

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but it's not very stable and the fumes are really unpleasant.

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But then, in 1887, two pyromaniacs from Germany

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grind up the magnesium and add it to gunpowder.

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This produces an explosive solution.

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They call it "blitzlichtpulver",

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literally, "flashlight powder".

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Riis notices a small four-line article in his morning paper

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all about this new flash photography phenomenon from Germany.

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News of blitzlicht has crossed the Atlantic.

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Could this be the innovation Riis has been waiting for?

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Riis heads back down into the dark tenement hovels,

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now armed with the blitzlicht flash powder.

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He wants to try to light up his night-time images.

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But it's a tricky and dangerous process.

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All right, so what do we need to do to light this thing up?

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-I'm kind of excited and terrified.

-Well, we need a flashgun.

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So, this is a flashgun?

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-This is a flashgun right here.

-It sounds dangerous already.

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It is dangerous, of course, in the wrong hands.

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We're going to put the cap inside.

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Don't push that button.

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OK.

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I won't, I promise!

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Now, this is black powder.

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Black powder is a form of gunpowder.

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My kids would love this. If this is what you needed to take photographs,

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they'd take photographs all day long.

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They just like blowing things up.

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In order to get more a white flash, we add magnesium.

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Keep feeling like this is about to blow up in my face.

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So, that's the magnesium.

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That's what's going to give the white light.

0:21:050:21:07

The powder underneath really kind of propels it.

0:21:070:21:10

Should get you some protective garment here.

0:21:100:21:13

Not that it protects you all that much.

0:21:130:21:15

-But at least it's one layer that will burn.

-OK, yeah.

0:21:150:21:18

Nothing can go wrong now I've got an apron on!

0:21:180:21:21

I look like some kind of deranged butcher.

0:21:210:21:23

And I'd like you to put this sleeve on.

0:21:230:21:26

Again, one more layer.

0:21:260:21:27

Right. Oh, yes! Nothing will get through this thin layer of cotton!

0:21:270:21:30

-Oh, it's amazing. It will only burn the cotton and not you.

-OK.

0:21:300:21:34

-Hold it up above your head.

-Right.

0:21:340:21:36

If it's above your head and the wind is blowing that way,

0:21:360:21:38

-you won't burn your hair.

-Oh, I see. Right.

0:21:380:21:41

-It's going to be up about like that.

-Yeah.

0:21:410:21:43

-Keep it level.

-Right.

0:21:430:21:44

So, that's it! So, now you're ready to fire.

0:21:440:21:46

Riis wants to photograph the people in the tenements

0:21:500:21:53

unposed and spontaneous,

0:21:530:21:55

so he sets off unannounced into the slums after midnight.

0:21:550:21:59

And you can imagine how surprising it must have been for these people

0:21:590:22:03

when a stranger walks into their home and sets off a small explosion.

0:22:030:22:06

Many of the occupants are left dazed and confused.

0:22:200:22:24

One account recalls -

0:22:240:22:26

"A blinding flash, the patter of retreating footsteps

0:22:260:22:30

"and the mysterious visitors were gone."

0:22:300:22:33

You can see how it was dangerous work.

0:22:380:22:40

Riis actually nearly blinded himself once and, on several occasions,

0:22:400:22:45

he actually set fire to the tenements

0:22:450:22:47

he was trying to photograph.

0:22:470:22:48

Riis said, "Our party carried terror wherever it went."

0:22:520:22:56

But, at least, he gets his photographs.

0:22:590:23:01

With a set of images lit by flash,

0:23:050:23:08

Riis publishes his photos in a book called How The Other Half Lives.

0:23:080:23:12

He then goes on a nationwide lecture trip,

0:23:120:23:15

projecting his photographs to audiences

0:23:150:23:17

using another light device,

0:23:170:23:19

a newly-devised type of magic lantern.

0:23:190:23:22

Jacob Riis would have loved this, right?

0:23:240:23:26

Yeah, I mean, it's really special to be able to project his work

0:23:260:23:29

this large, this bright,

0:23:290:23:31

because, you know, he would use a magic lantern

0:23:310:23:33

-which has a candle inside.

-Right.

0:23:330:23:35

A candle is essentially one lumen,

0:23:350:23:37

so he would project his work with one lumen.

0:23:370:23:39

Today, we have 12,000 lumens.

0:23:390:23:41

It's so intense to be here,

0:23:430:23:46

to see these images of this neighbourhood

0:23:460:23:47

basically projected up on the screen.

0:23:470:23:49

It's like we've created

0:23:490:23:50

the world's most depressing PowerPoint presentation.

0:23:500:23:53

-Yeah.

-People are walking by and shocked at these images.

0:23:540:23:57

But I love the idea of also public projection.

0:23:590:24:02

You see a lot of surprised faces around here.

0:24:020:24:04

Everybody is walking about, people are taking pictures.

0:24:040:24:07

It's art like this, video art and photography,

0:24:070:24:09

seldom seen on large scales like this.

0:24:090:24:11

Thanks to the innovations of flash photography

0:24:150:24:17

and the magic lantern,

0:24:170:24:19

Riis takes this previously invisible group of people

0:24:190:24:23

and makes them visible on a mass scale.

0:24:230:24:25

It sets in motion a dramatic change in public opinion,

0:24:270:24:30

triggering one of the great movements of social reform

0:24:300:24:33

in American history.

0:24:330:24:34

Thanks to Riis,

0:24:410:24:42

many of the city's worst tenement buildings are torn down.

0:24:420:24:46

A decade of improvements follows

0:24:460:24:48

with sewers, garbage collection and indoor plumbing.

0:24:480:24:51

Riis used his images to share his vision

0:24:570:25:01

and change the way we see the world.

0:25:010:25:03

One century comes up with a way to capture images in a dimly-lit room

0:25:030:25:08

and, by the next century,

0:25:080:25:10

it has transformed the lives of city dwellers everywhere.

0:25:100:25:13

While the photographer's flash could light a room

0:25:180:25:21

for a short, blinding moment,

0:25:210:25:23

people at this time still relied on candles and lamps

0:25:230:25:26

to light their way after dark.

0:25:260:25:28

The buzz now was to create a continuous and bright light

0:25:300:25:34

at the flick of a switch.

0:25:340:25:36

It was time for the first ever light-bulb moment...

0:25:370:25:41

So, how many people does it take to invent a light bulb?

0:25:430:25:47

You know the answer. One, right?

0:25:470:25:48

Thomas Alva Edison.

0:25:480:25:51

Well, that's not exactly true.

0:25:510:25:53

Decades before Edison took an interest,

0:25:580:26:00

inventors from across Europe and America

0:26:000:26:03

had experimented with and patented

0:26:030:26:05

a range of designs for electric light bulbs.

0:26:050:26:08

But the problem with these early bulbs?

0:26:120:26:14

They didn't last that long.

0:26:150:26:17

It wasn't until 1878,

0:26:230:26:26

almost 40 years after the first patented light bulb,

0:26:260:26:29

that the stage is set for the grand entrance

0:26:290:26:32

of Thomas Edison.

0:26:320:26:34

Edison is already a media sensation.

0:26:370:26:41

What do you think?

0:26:420:26:43

I've got a little Edison impersonation business on the side.

0:26:430:26:47

He was dubbed a wizard

0:26:470:26:49

for being the first person to record a voice on a phonograph.

0:26:490:26:54

Now, he sets his mind to the problem of electric light.

0:26:540:26:58

And the first thing he does is buy up an existing Canadian patent.

0:26:580:27:02

Here's Edison in his own words -

0:27:020:27:04

"I am not impressed by the great names and reputations

0:27:040:27:08

"of those who might be trying to beat me to an invention.

0:27:080:27:12

"It's their ideas that appeal to me.

0:27:120:27:15

"I am quite correctly described as

0:27:150:27:17

"'more of a sponge than an inventor.'"

0:27:170:27:20

This might not sound like the normal inventor mind-set.

0:27:230:27:27

But, by buying up patents,

0:27:270:27:29

Edison could build on other people's already existing designs.

0:27:290:27:33

People think that, by filing a patent,

0:27:370:27:39

they're going to be automatically rich,

0:27:390:27:41

they're going to make a lot of money.

0:27:410:27:42

But most patents end up being worth absolutely nothing.

0:27:420:27:47

It's the idea behind it that's important.

0:27:470:27:49

In the case of the light bulb,

0:27:490:27:51

there are, you know, dozens of patents -

0:27:510:27:53

people patenting parts of the invention,

0:27:530:27:55

people patenting the whole thing.

0:27:550:27:57

Many people have good ideas

0:27:570:27:59

that can contribute to the development of a major idea.

0:27:590:28:03

But they don't have all of the vision,

0:28:030:28:06

all the skill set necessary to do that.

0:28:060:28:08

So, a smart person with a bigger vision

0:28:080:28:11

will come along and buy up that portfolio of patents

0:28:110:28:14

and then use them to their advantage.

0:28:140:28:16

That's not uncommon in today's technology world.

0:28:160:28:19

With his newly-purchased patent,

0:28:230:28:25

Edison reckons it will only take him a few weeks

0:28:250:28:28

to create a long-lasting light bulb.

0:28:280:28:30

But it's much harder than he thought.

0:28:330:28:35

So, what does he do?

0:28:350:28:37

Edison is a master of what we now call "vapourware",

0:28:390:28:43

announcing a non-existent product in order to scare off competitors.

0:28:430:28:48

Basically, he lies.

0:28:480:28:50

Edison announces to the press

0:28:530:28:55

that he's succeeded in inventing

0:28:550:28:57

the first long-life electric light bulb

0:28:570:29:00

and encourages journalists to come see it.

0:29:000:29:03

Edison invites each reporter, one by one,

0:29:040:29:08

into a booth,

0:29:080:29:09

where he showcases his miraculous new invention

0:29:090:29:14

and discusses the merits of his design.

0:29:140:29:17

But only for a few minutes, max.

0:29:170:29:19

Just long enough to ensure the bulb doesn't blow.

0:29:190:29:22

And then he ushers the reporter out of the booth

0:29:220:29:27

and then he goes in and screws in a new light bulb

0:29:270:29:30

and brings the next guy in.

0:29:300:29:32

When asked how long his light bulb will last,

0:29:320:29:36

he answers confidently, "Forever!"

0:29:360:29:38

LIGHT BULB SMASHES

0:29:380:29:39

Almost!

0:29:390:29:41

But now Edison has to make good on his blatant lie.

0:29:450:29:49

Rather than work alone,

0:29:510:29:53

Edison employs the brightest minds of the time.

0:29:530:29:55

He calls them his "muckers"

0:29:570:29:59

and sets up the world's first research and development lab.

0:29:590:30:02

On top of that, he creates a new business model.

0:30:070:30:10

To give his staff an extra incentive,

0:30:100:30:13

he awards them with shares in the company.

0:30:130:30:16

You want as many people, creative, motivated people

0:30:160:30:19

on your team as possible.

0:30:190:30:21

Because people often think it was Steve Jobs who created Apple,

0:30:210:30:27

or it was Bill Gates who created Microsoft.

0:30:270:30:30

It was a team of people contributing to that idea

0:30:300:30:33

and you want those people to be motivated and have some ownership,

0:30:330:30:36

because they'll then do their best work for you and for themselves.

0:30:360:30:39

There's a sense of, if the company does well, everybody does well.

0:30:390:30:42

Any good manager will tell you, the way you motivate people

0:30:420:30:46

is to give them ownership.

0:30:460:30:47

They may not come up with the idea or the answer

0:30:470:30:49

that you thought they were going to come up with,

0:30:490:30:52

but they may come up with a better one.

0:30:520:30:53

And because they own it, they feel, "Oh, this is really exciting."

0:30:530:30:57

The team try out over 6,000 different materials

0:31:020:31:05

for the light-bulb filament.

0:31:050:31:07

Edison is even inspired by his old fishing rod

0:31:070:31:11

and gets his muckers to experiment with stuff like bamboo.

0:31:110:31:14

Edison becomes convinced that bamboo is the answer,

0:31:140:31:19

so he sends his men all around the world, one guy goes to Brazil,

0:31:190:31:22

one guy goes to Cuba and dies of yellow fever,

0:31:220:31:25

until, finally, one of his men in Japan

0:31:250:31:28

finds the perfect bamboo for the job.

0:31:280:31:30

It takes almost two years,

0:31:350:31:37

but they finally manage to create a long-lasting light bulb

0:31:370:31:40

which burns for an incredible 1,200 hours.

0:31:400:31:44

The first public display of Edison's incandescent light

0:31:470:31:52

happens on New Year's Eve, 1879.

0:31:520:31:55

Edison said,

0:31:560:31:57

"The electric light has caused me the greatest amount of study

0:31:570:32:01

"and required the most elaborate experiments."

0:32:010:32:04

Edison's light bulb is not so much a single invention

0:32:040:32:07

as it is a collection of small, but ingenious improvements.

0:32:070:32:12

By 1880, electric light bulbs go into mass production.

0:32:180:32:22

Edison announces that lighting our homes now comes cheap.

0:32:220:32:26

With spermaceti oil lamps, we got just seven hours of light

0:32:280:32:31

for an average day's wage.

0:32:310:32:33

But with electric bulbs, it was 1,200 hours for the same money.

0:32:330:32:37

Edison created a new kind of workspace

0:32:440:32:47

that would prove crucial to the next century's businesses,

0:32:470:32:51

the modern corporate research and development lab.

0:32:510:32:55

And on top of that, he inaugurated a tradition

0:32:550:32:58

that would be widely adopted by the technology sector,

0:32:580:33:01

paying their employees in shares and not just in cash.

0:33:010:33:06

In a sense, Edison didn't just invent technology.

0:33:070:33:12

He also invented a system of inventing

0:33:120:33:15

that would drive 20th century innovation.

0:33:150:33:18

It took a while for electric light bulbs to take off,

0:33:220:33:25

because most homes didn't have a source of electricity.

0:33:250:33:29

But as our cities slowly began to crackle with power,

0:33:290:33:32

Edison's influence spreads far and wide.

0:33:320:33:35

Edison's light bulbs radically change our work life,

0:33:410:33:45

creating the first 24-hour factories and the innovation of shiftwork.

0:33:450:33:49

This massively increases productivity right across the globe.

0:33:490:33:53

Electric streetlights cause a drop in crime

0:33:580:34:01

and open the night to the entertainment industry,

0:34:010:34:04

from music halls to the movies.

0:34:040:34:06

And with our homes now bathed in electric light,

0:34:090:34:12

it opens the door to other electrical appliances.

0:34:120:34:15

The washing machine, the vacuum cleaner, the food mixer

0:34:150:34:18

transform the role of women,

0:34:180:34:20

halving the hours a housewife spends on chores,

0:34:200:34:23

allowing many to enter the national workforce.

0:34:230:34:26

While Edison and his R&D team light our homes

0:34:320:34:35

and bring the world into the age of electricity,

0:34:350:34:38

there's one arena Edison actually failed to tackle in his lifetime.

0:34:380:34:42

CHEERING

0:34:440:34:45

And that was to bring light to sports.

0:34:470:34:50

Until the 1930s, professional sporting events like baseball games

0:34:510:34:56

were actually relatively small-scale affairs.

0:34:560:34:59

The games had to be played during daylight hours,

0:34:590:35:01

usually during the work week,

0:35:010:35:03

which meant that a big professional baseball game

0:35:030:35:05

might only attract an audience of a few thousand people.

0:35:050:35:09

To increase numbers, games would have to be played after work.

0:35:100:35:14

But that's when it got dark.

0:35:140:35:16

In his old age, Edison dreamed of lighting up large spaces like this,

0:35:200:35:25

but it's not a simple task.

0:35:250:35:27

One of the biggest challenges is there are players all over the field,

0:35:270:35:32

the game is very omnidirectional,

0:35:320:35:34

you never know which way they're going to turn.

0:35:340:35:36

I mean, what made it so difficult?

0:35:360:35:38

We have to put lights all around the field

0:35:380:35:40

to make sure that we minimise shadows

0:35:400:35:42

and we have to make sure we put them in the appropriate place

0:35:420:35:45

to not put them in offending zones of the batters and the players,

0:35:450:35:48

so they truly don't get blinded by light.

0:35:480:35:50

The man credited with the solution is RJ Swackhammer,

0:35:570:36:01

a lighting designer for Edison's company, General Electric.

0:36:010:36:05

It wasn't so much a technological innovation

0:36:090:36:12

as more the precise placement of floodlights,

0:36:120:36:15

plus narrow-beamed spotlights

0:36:150:36:17

around the irregular-shaped field,

0:36:170:36:19

creating an even distribution of light.

0:36:190:36:22

In May 1935, the first major league baseball game

0:36:240:36:28

played under lights

0:36:280:36:29

was the Cincinnati Reds versus the Philadelphia Phillies,

0:36:290:36:32

with an evening crowd of over 20,000 people.

0:36:320:36:36

So, we're here at home plate.

0:36:370:36:39

We've got the lights on.

0:36:390:36:40

So, I feel like I'm pretty well-lit.

0:36:400:36:42

What is it about the lighting that is so special on me here?

0:36:420:36:45

Light's hitting every side of you

0:36:450:36:46

so, no matter where the people sit, no matter where the cameras stand,

0:36:460:36:50

you're rendered with light on all sides.

0:36:500:36:52

That also helps if you're a batter.

0:36:520:36:54

You can see the ball being lit from left, right, forward and back.

0:36:540:36:58

You can see how it's turning

0:36:580:36:59

and whether or not you should swing low, high, left or right.

0:36:590:37:02

And how much power is driving this whole spectacle right now?

0:37:020:37:05

This is one megawatt.

0:37:050:37:07

One million watts,

0:37:070:37:08

which costs about 100 an hour to run,

0:37:080:37:10

where, compared to your typical house, is about 100 per month.

0:37:100:37:13

Despite the obvious advantages of lights,

0:37:150:37:18

not everyone was convinced about lighting stadiums.

0:37:180:37:22

The president of one club announced,

0:37:220:37:24

"There is no chance night baseball is going to become popular.

0:37:240:37:28

"The game was meant to be played in the Lord's own sunshine."

0:37:280:37:33

CHEERING

0:37:330:37:34

But soon, sports stadiums across the country

0:37:390:37:41

and around the world

0:37:410:37:43

are being fitted with lights.

0:37:430:37:45

The simple ability to play at night had some surprising consequences.

0:37:490:37:54

Lighting up stadiums effectively brought sports to the masses

0:37:540:37:58

on a global scale.

0:37:580:38:00

And it helped create the national pastime of spectator sports,

0:38:000:38:03

from baseball, to football, to basketball,

0:38:030:38:06

all the way to monster trucks.

0:38:060:38:08

And it turned sports

0:38:080:38:10

into a multibillion dollar entertainment industry.

0:38:100:38:13

Artificial light may have started out

0:38:170:38:19

as a way for us to illuminate our dark world,

0:38:190:38:22

but we now had the power to use it just for fun.

0:38:220:38:26

Garage inventors could now create lights

0:38:260:38:28

just to bring colour and excitement to our cities.

0:38:280:38:31

If there's one place on earth that's famous for its lights,

0:38:430:38:46

it's Las Vegas.

0:38:460:38:48

The city is lit up like a Christmas tree.

0:38:540:38:57

And everywhere you look, the vibrant glow of neon.

0:38:570:39:01

Now, the marriage of Sin City to its gaudy neon lights

0:39:080:39:11

came about by a chance encounter

0:39:110:39:14

with the work of a crazy French scientist.

0:39:140:39:17

That man was Georges Claude.

0:39:200:39:22

Claude is a chemist by trade,

0:39:230:39:25

but he cares less for academic studies and more for fantasy books.

0:39:250:39:29

Claude is an avid reader

0:39:300:39:32

of the early science fiction novels of Jules Verne,

0:39:320:39:35

whose tales of adventure open his mind to new possibilities.

0:39:350:39:40

In 1902, working in Paris,

0:39:430:39:46

Claude makes an accidental discovery

0:39:460:39:49

while studying the composition of air.

0:39:490:39:52

Air was known to contain around 78% nitrogen,

0:40:000:40:04

plus 21% oxygen

0:40:040:40:06

and 1% "other".

0:40:060:40:08

It's in these "other" gases where Claude's thirst for mystery

0:40:100:40:14

and his eye for a buck

0:40:140:40:16

collide in spectacular fashion.

0:40:160:40:18

So, Claude has got all these extra strange gases lying around.

0:40:210:40:25

And so, like any self-respecting mad scientist,

0:40:250:40:28

he decides to pass a current of electricity through them.

0:40:280:40:32

And one of those gases lights up a vivid shade of red.

0:40:320:40:36

That gas turns out to be neon.

0:40:370:40:39

Neon gas, itself, was not a new discovery,

0:40:420:40:45

but it had been mostly ignored by other scientists.

0:40:450:40:48

The fact it glows brightly when you pass electricity through it

0:40:480:40:52

gives Claude an idea -

0:40:520:40:54

he invents and patents the first neon tube light.

0:40:540:40:58

Claude decides to set up a stall in the streets of Paris

0:41:070:41:11

to showcase his amazing new electric light.

0:41:110:41:14

Neon, people!

0:41:160:41:18

Lots of neon!

0:41:180:41:20

Word spreads all around the world and, before long,

0:41:230:41:25

the orders are coming in.

0:41:250:41:27

And Claude can't meet the demand.

0:41:270:41:29

Look at this glowing colour!

0:41:320:41:33

You can make signs from it!

0:41:330:41:35

And so, to protect his invention and bring his product to the market,

0:41:360:41:41

he decides to embrace a new business model,

0:41:410:41:44

the franchise.

0:41:440:41:45

Franchises, and the trade secrets they protect,

0:41:470:41:50

dominate the world of commerce today.

0:41:500:41:52

It's how some of the very best ideas go global.

0:41:520:41:56

I get chills any time I talk about franchises.

0:41:590:42:02

-Really?

-I do!

-Thank God we have you on the show!

0:42:020:42:05

You may be the only person in the world.

0:42:050:42:07

Well, I get chills about it

0:42:070:42:08

because it's one entrepreneur saying to another entrepreneur,

0:42:080:42:12

"You don't have the money to do this big company. Buy into my idea.

0:42:120:42:17

"Put a little money down, start your own business

0:42:170:42:20

"and then pay me the equivalent of a royalty over a period of time."

0:42:200:42:23

When I was growing up, you had all of these black men,

0:42:230:42:27

who just had ideas,

0:42:270:42:29

but they couldn't get the capital from the banks.

0:42:290:42:31

But yet, they pooled together all their money

0:42:310:42:33

to buy a McDonald's franchise or to buy a Buick franchise,

0:42:330:42:37

or a GM franchise

0:42:370:42:39

and, by opening up that,

0:42:390:42:41

they built wealth in the community, put their kids through school,

0:42:410:42:44

employed the community and the wealth just spread.

0:42:440:42:48

That's was the most impassioned speech

0:42:480:42:50

about franchises I've ever heard.

0:42:500:42:51

I find franchises to be great business models,

0:42:510:42:55

when the underlying idea of it

0:42:550:42:58

is so powerful that it captures the imagination

0:42:580:43:00

of an entire community, if not a nation.

0:43:000:43:03

Back in 1920s Las Vegas,

0:43:070:43:10

Claude's neon light franchise was picked up

0:43:100:43:13

by an entrepreneurial sign writer called Tom Young.

0:43:130:43:17

Young's electric sign company still keeps Las Vegas alight to this day.

0:43:210:43:26

I caught up with his grandson, Jeff.

0:43:260:43:28

So, what brought your grandfather to Vegas?

0:43:300:43:33

My grandfather was born in England

0:43:330:43:35

and immigrated as a young man

0:43:350:43:37

to Utah and was a hand letterer,

0:43:370:43:39

was his trade.

0:43:390:43:40

And early on, he was travelling through this area

0:43:400:43:43

to see family in California

0:43:430:43:44

and started selling signs in Las Vegas.

0:43:440:43:47

How did he start thinking about really lighting up the signs?

0:43:470:43:49

Light and energy were such a big part of this area

0:43:490:43:52

because of the building of Hoover Dam.

0:43:520:43:54

And he thought,

0:43:540:43:55

all that electricity,

0:43:550:43:56

there's going to be an opportunity down there

0:43:560:43:58

to make some pretty bright signs.

0:43:580:44:00

With the loan of 300, Young sets up a sign writing company.

0:44:050:44:10

Later, he opens a branch in the still small town of Las Vegas.

0:44:100:44:14

Tom Young brings a completely new aesthetic and scale to sign writing.

0:44:220:44:26

And, at its heart, is neon lighting.

0:44:260:44:29

These are some of the biggest signs in the world here.

0:44:340:44:37

These I-beams were just massive

0:44:370:44:39

because it was supporting a 260-foot display.

0:44:390:44:42

Our plastic fabrication is back in this area.

0:44:430:44:45

We actually just shipped out a giant flamingo that's going downtown.

0:44:470:44:51

The scale is much bigger here

0:44:510:44:53

than you'll get anywhere else in the world.

0:44:530:44:55

Caesars at 165 feet.

0:44:550:44:58

Mandalay, Mirage, Bellagio.

0:44:580:45:00

We've had involvement with every casino

0:45:000:45:02

that you can think of in Las Vegas.

0:45:020:45:04

This is our glass room. I'll take you in there and show you.

0:45:040:45:07

By using different colour glass tubes

0:45:070:45:09

and even different gases,

0:45:090:45:11

Young creates a rainbow of bright colours.

0:45:110:45:13

So, for someone like you grandfather in 1920,

0:45:150:45:18

what is it about neon that seemed so immediately useful?

0:45:180:45:23

Well, at the time, light bulbs, you could turn them on and off.

0:45:230:45:26

But they didn't really have colour and you couldn't bend them.

0:45:260:45:30

You get a tube of glass

0:45:300:45:31

and you can bend it virtually in any shape in virtually any colour.

0:45:310:45:36

And there was just nothing like that anywhere

0:45:360:45:38

and so it just took off like wildfire.

0:45:380:45:41

It's a remarkable story of how different ideas and skills

0:45:470:45:50

came together to create something brand new.

0:45:500:45:53

A new technology from France

0:45:550:45:58

collides with an immigrant sign designer from England

0:45:580:46:02

in the middle of the American southwest.

0:46:020:46:04

Young realises that neon isn't just about light.

0:46:050:46:10

It could also be used to make words.

0:46:100:46:12

It's one of those chance encounters

0:46:120:46:15

that will ultimately transform the look of an entire city.

0:46:150:46:19

Neon light becomes the ultimate way to advertise.

0:46:240:46:28

Hotels and casinos use it to lure people in.

0:46:280:46:31

The giant neon displays are even seen as a new form of art.

0:46:310:46:35

These lights inspire a generation of architects

0:46:380:46:42

to abandon the sterile, serious designs of modernism

0:46:420:46:46

and embrace the playful, symbolic excess of the Las Vegas strip.

0:46:460:46:51

This is how change happens.

0:46:520:46:55

Scientists discover a new kind of gas,

0:46:550:46:58

which creates an amazing business opportunity,

0:46:580:47:00

which ultimately leads to a new artistic movement.

0:47:000:47:03

And every step of that journey, neon lit the way.

0:47:050:47:08

People like Young were now using light

0:47:120:47:15

to send out a bold, bright message.

0:47:150:47:18

But in the final chapter in the story of light,

0:47:180:47:20

it would be used not for illumination, as such,

0:47:200:47:23

more as an industrial tool.

0:47:230:47:26

And this time, inspiration didn't come from scientists,

0:47:260:47:30

but from science fiction.

0:47:300:47:31

Just a minute, ladies and gentlemen, I think something is happening.

0:47:330:47:37

From HG Wells in the 1800s,

0:47:460:47:49

through to Flash Gordon and Superman in the 1930s,

0:47:490:47:52

early sci-fi stories, comic strips and films

0:47:520:47:56

often used beams of light to zap people.

0:47:560:47:59

The innovation of what came to be called the laser

0:48:040:48:08

didn't actually come about in the real world

0:48:080:48:10

until the late 1950s and early '60s.

0:48:100:48:13

Not for the first time, the science fiction writers

0:48:130:48:16

were well ahead of the scientists.

0:48:160:48:18

When the laser finally becomes reality,

0:48:210:48:24

its first mainstream use isn't as a terrifying weapon,

0:48:240:48:28

but as something a little less exciting...

0:48:280:48:31

..scanning barcodes.

0:48:340:48:36

Barcodes were invented back in the late '40s by two grad students,

0:48:390:48:43

Bernard Silver and Norman Woodland.

0:48:430:48:46

They'd overheard a shop owner

0:48:460:48:47

wanting a way to read product information at the checkout.

0:48:470:48:51

Well, you'll want one of this sort, sir. Sixpence a card.

0:48:510:48:53

Sixpence, eh?

0:48:530:48:55

To read the barcodes originally took a cumbersome device

0:48:550:48:58

inspired by a movie projector

0:48:580:49:00

and powered by a large 500-watt light bulb.

0:49:000:49:03

But with the invention of the laser,

0:49:050:49:07

a different kind of light was created.

0:49:070:49:09

It's very pure, made from single colours of the spectrum

0:49:090:49:13

and can be focused to a narrow beam.

0:49:130:49:16

With a laser, small hand-held scanners were possible.

0:49:170:49:21

OK, so it may not seem like the sexiest of innovations,

0:49:220:49:26

but the ability to quickly and efficiently scan barcodes

0:49:260:49:31

transformed retailing all around the world.

0:49:310:49:34

Each transaction could be recorded and tracked

0:49:350:49:38

into the supply chain,

0:49:380:49:39

which meant that you never ran out of goods.

0:49:390:49:42

Big retail outlets were able to maintain vast inventories of goods,

0:49:420:49:47

which gave them a critical advantage over smaller mom and pop stores.

0:49:470:49:51

With barcodes and laser scanners,

0:49:540:49:56

retail outlets ballooned into the huge stores

0:49:560:49:59

that now dominate shopping malls across the world.

0:49:590:50:02

Lasers effectively changed the face of shopping.

0:50:030:50:06

Today lasers have come to enable so much in our daily life.

0:50:090:50:13

Lasers transform the music

0:50:150:50:17

and movie industry with the innovation of CDs and DVDs.

0:50:170:50:21

And they make an awesome stage show.

0:50:220:50:25

High-power lasers are behind every journey we make.

0:50:250:50:28

They revolutionise construction for transport, with laser cutting,

0:50:280:50:32

drilling and welding used in building every car and aeroplane.

0:50:320:50:35

And laser light transforms global communications,

0:50:390:50:42

as nearly every telephone call, e-mail and web search is now

0:50:420:50:46

carried as pulses of light through a system of fibre optics.

0:50:460:50:50

Science fiction might have given birth to the idea of lasers,

0:50:540:50:58

but they're now an essential tool in scientific research.

0:50:580:51:02

And if the old sci-fi fans might have been disappointed to see

0:51:020:51:06

lasers used for barcode scanning,

0:51:060:51:08

they'd be thrilled to see

0:51:080:51:10

what scientists have planned for them next.

0:51:100:51:12

This is the Lawrence Livermore National Ignition Facility

0:51:150:51:19

near San Francisco.

0:51:190:51:21

It's here that we can look into the future story of light.

0:51:210:51:24

This is a high security facility.

0:51:260:51:29

I've been scanned and swabbed and searched.

0:51:290:51:32

But I'm here because inside this building, scientists have

0:51:320:51:36

created the most powerful laser system on the planet

0:51:360:51:41

and the hope is that they can use the light

0:51:410:51:44

to create not a death ray,

0:51:440:51:46

but instead a near limitless supply of clean energy.

0:51:460:51:51

'The goal here is to use laser light to power nuclear fusion -

0:51:550:51:59

'the same process that drives our sun and the stars.

0:51:590:52:02

'The head man is Mike Dunne.'

0:52:050:52:07

Fusion is the process that

0:52:090:52:10

drives the sun, and all of the stars,

0:52:100:52:12

it's the crushing together

0:52:120:52:14

of matter at the very smallest scale,

0:52:140:52:16

at the atomic scale.

0:52:160:52:17

It combines the hydrogen together to get helium -

0:52:170:52:20

and it releases energy in the same process.

0:52:200:52:23

The objective of this facility is to try to reproduce,

0:52:230:52:26

in miniature, what's happening at the centre of the sun.

0:52:260:52:29

And how far along in the process towards that fusion goal

0:52:290:52:33

would you say you are?

0:52:330:52:34

We're still going through the experimental journey.

0:52:340:52:37

In fact, today there's a major experiment under way to see

0:52:370:52:39

if we can get to that next level.

0:52:390:52:41

In the control room, the team of scientists

0:52:450:52:47

and engineers are preparing to fire the laser system.

0:52:470:52:51

When they flick the switch, a single pulse of low-power laser light

0:52:520:52:55

is sent off through fibre optic cables.

0:52:550:52:58

But then, in this cavernous room, it gets split up

0:53:010:53:04

into 192 separate laser beams

0:53:040:53:07

and their power is amplified four million billion times,

0:53:070:53:12

reaching a total output of 500,000 gigawatts.

0:53:120:53:15

The lasers then get routed down to the basement,

0:53:220:53:25

to the fusion reaction chamber.

0:53:250:53:27

You know how you see something that seems really futuristic,

0:53:340:53:37

and you're like, "that looks like something from Star Trek" -

0:53:370:53:39

it's like this actually WAS from Star Trek!

0:53:390:53:41

This is the Engine Room of the Starship Enterprise!

0:53:410:53:44

It's incredible.

0:53:440:53:45

So this is the heart of the whole facility, where the...

0:53:450:53:48

the laser beams come down from above.

0:53:480:53:50

We focus each laser beam down to a tiny point in space,

0:53:500:53:54

about the width of a human hair onto this fusion fuel.

0:53:540:53:57

That red dot inside the fuel cell

0:53:590:54:01

is a tiny droplet of frozen hydrogen.

0:54:010:54:03

So we're shining 500,000 gigawatts' worth of power

0:54:060:54:09

onto this tiny little pellet.

0:54:090:54:11

What then happens next?

0:54:110:54:12

The oven, this gold can,

0:54:120:54:14

converts that optical light into X-ray light,

0:54:140:54:17

and those X-rays crush the pellet

0:54:170:54:19

and they crush it really fast.

0:54:190:54:21

This is a million mile an hour implosion.

0:54:210:54:23

The atoms themselves are forced together at such high pressures,

0:54:230:54:27

you know, billions of atmosphere pressures

0:54:270:54:30

that the atoms themselves bond together,

0:54:300:54:32

and so we convert hydrogen into helium and give off lots

0:54:320:54:36

of energy - you are now standing in front of the world's

0:54:360:54:40

highest producing fusion device, you know,

0:54:400:54:42

which would absorb into your body

0:54:420:54:44

and, I'm afraid, you would not be walking out of there any time soon.

0:54:440:54:48

Countdown started - T minus 270 seconds.

0:54:500:54:53

Back in the control room, they're ready to fire.

0:54:540:54:57

So, I can tell something very important is going on in here.

0:55:030:55:06

You got all these computers,

0:55:060:55:07

and not a single person is checking Facebook!

0:55:070:55:10

System started, sequence ready - T minus 30.

0:55:100:55:13

Mission alert.

0:55:180:55:19

Copy.

0:55:200:55:22

System show sequence running at T minus 10,

0:55:240:55:27

9, 8,

0:55:270:55:29

7, 6,

0:55:290:55:31

5, 4, 3,

0:55:310:55:34

2, 1.

0:55:340:55:36

-We're still alive, so that's good.

-That's a good sign!

0:55:410:55:43

So what... What just happened?

0:55:430:55:46

For an instant in time, about 100 trillionths of a second,

0:55:460:55:50

we created, just over there, the hottest place in the solar system.

0:55:500:55:53

This facility is still at the experimental stage.

0:55:580:56:01

But someday, possibly very soon, the world could be

0:56:010:56:05

powered by fusion energy created by laser light.

0:56:050:56:08

The hope is that we can optimise this laser system

0:56:080:56:11

and the fuel, to get more energy coming out of the fusion process,

0:56:110:56:15

than the laser itself delivers.

0:56:150:56:17

And, if you can harness that,

0:56:170:56:18

then you've got an inherently clean, inherently safe

0:56:180:56:21

form of energy that will last for, probably, a few million years.

0:56:210:56:24

When you stand and look at this extraordinary machine,

0:56:340:56:39

you really have to pause for a second and remind yourself that just

0:56:390:56:42

200 years ago, the state of the art

0:56:420:56:45

in artificial light involved cutting up a whale on the deck of a ship

0:56:450:56:49

in the middle of the North Atlantic.

0:56:490:56:52

Yet here we are today and we're creating miniature suns on Earth.

0:56:560:57:00

This is the journey of light.

0:57:030:57:07

And it started as this attempt to just read a book

0:57:080:57:11

before we went to bed.

0:57:110:57:12

And then it became a massive form of commerce and

0:57:150:57:18

then it became a form of advertising

0:57:180:57:20

and then it became a form of art.

0:57:200:57:22

And now we're in this room

0:57:220:57:24

trying to create the next chapter in the story of light.

0:57:240:57:27

What started as just an attempt to illuminate our lives after dark

0:57:300:57:35

now may be the future of energy.

0:57:350:57:38

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